THE YOUNG BLACK STALLION [] (two stars)
Running time: 45 minutes. Rated G. At the Lincoln Square Imax Theatre, 68th Street & Broadway.
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THE IMAX film “The Young Black Stallion,” Walt Disney Pictures’ first foray into large- format drama, is a visual treat diminished by lifeless dialogue and self-conscious acting.
A prequel to 1979’s “The Black Stallion,” this gorgeous-looking short feature is set in North Africa toward the end of WWII and has a simplistic, though often stirring, narrative that should appeal to the very young.
Biana G. Tamimi plays a young girl, Neera, who, while traveling by caravan in the desert, is separated from the pack after an attack by raiders, led by Mansoor (Ali Al Ameri).
Lost in the inhospitable desert, she befriends a skittish black colt orphaned by Mansoor’s bandits and rides him home to the estate of her grandfather Ben (Richard Romanus).
There she discovers a rival breeder named Rhamon (Gerard Rudolf) has made off with her granddad’s horses.
Neera sees a chance to return the family fortunes to their former glory by riding the black horse – now named Shetan, or “devil” – in an annual, winner-takes-all cross-country horse race.
The rousing, climactic race, across perilous desert terrain against a field that includes both Mansoor and Rhamon, is superbly shot by director Simon Wincer – the sand kicked up by thundering hooves seems to fly off the screen.
The titular stallion looks arrestingly beautiful filmed against the desiccated North African landscapes, and displays a personality that makes the two-legged performers seem like cardboard cut-outs.